AT&T Kills $10 Texting Plan, Pushes $20 Plan

Hugh Pickens writes "AT&T is scrapping its 1,000-texts-for-ten-bucks plan and replacing it with a plan that offers unlimited texts for $20. Users who don't want the unlimited plan can opt to pay 20 cents per text. Current AT&T subscribers are grandfathered in, so you can stick with whatever plan you selected when you signed your contract. 'The vast majority of our messaging customers prefer unlimited plans and with text messaging growth stronger than ever, that number continues to climb among new customers,' says AT&T. The news has not been received warmly in the tech blogosphere. 'AT&T calls this "streamlining." We call it what it is: an outrageous, gigantic scam,' writes Sam Biddle in Gizmodo. 'AT&T's taken away new customers' option to spend less, whereas carriers like Verizon still offer tiered texting plans for varying budgets.'"

Re:Whining Little Bitches

[alen]

and yet the same people don't think twice about buying a $700 phone where apple's profit margins border on ridiculous

Re:It's the market

[mangino]

That would be true if there was a well functioning market. A market of essentially two companies armed with contracts does not make for a well functioning market. It would be better to say:

They extract monopoly profits because they can.

Re:Whining Little Bitches

[Kielistic]

Lack of carriers makes switching difficult at times. If there is only a couple and all of them are assholes on some level. The title was also "Whining Little Bitches" indicating the GP believes they should not be voicing their opinions. What's so hard about having people express their dislike for a company's actions? Why are people "bitches" for calling out a company's bullshit actions? People have every right, and the obligation, to point out companies acting in bad faith. They do not have to silently take it or hope that they can move on to an alternative.

Re:It's the market

[jellomizer]

These guys seem to be missing the big picture here. They are missing out a lot of great returns for the future.

Verizon grows in wireless was because they had some of the best plans back in the late 90's. Back when Cell Phones charged you for Local, Long Distance calls, roaming fees.... Verizon was one of the first to give people a plan that allows a call to be a call no matter where you were at or who you were calling... A big deal back then. It opened Cell Phones for being a toy for the rich to an every-man tool.

But now Verizon AT&T Sprint and everyone else is not taking it to the next step. Unlimited Plans/Unrestricted plans.

Customers want to get rid of their cable companies. They want their internet plans to allow unrestricted tethering so they can get internet they can use at home or anywhere else. They want to use their phones without having to worry about a huge bill later on. A company who does the big push for this, and has the infrastructure to support it will Make a LOT of money and get a lot of switchers right after their other contracts expire.

Re:It's the market

[Shatrat]

Just like the Obama administration hasn't said a peep about T-mobile? If you pretend this is a partisan issue you allow it to continue. This is a campaign finance issue, AT&T donates to Republicans, Democrats, even Independents. http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/summary.php?id=D000000076 [opensecrets.org]

Re:It's the market

[Yamioni]

None. ;-)